Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫, Uematsu Nobuo; born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese composer and keyboardist who is most famous for creating music for the Final Fantasy video game series by Square Enix. He taught himself how to play music and began playing the piano when he was twelve years old. Uematsu joined Square in 1986, where he first met Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy. Together, they worked on many games, especially those in the Final Fantasy series. After working at Square for nearly twenty years, Uematsu left in 2004 to start his own production company and music label called Dog Ear Records. Since then, he has composed music for other games, including those made by Square Enix and Sakaguchi’s studio, Mistwalker.
Many soundtracks and albums with rearranged versions of Uematsu’s game music have been released. Music from his games has been performed in Final Fantasy concerts, where he has worked with conductor Arnie Roth and Game Concerts producer Thomas Böcker. In the 2000s, Uematsu was the keyboardist for The Black Mages, a group that played hard rock versions of his Final Fantasy compositions. Later, he formed a new group called Earthbound Papas, which took over from The Black Mages in 2011. Uematsu has been listed multiple times in Britain’s Classic FM Hall of Fame, and the station has called him the Beethoven of game music.
Biography
Uematsu was born on March 21, 1959, in Kōchi, the capital city of Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. He was a self-taught musician who began playing the piano at age 12 without taking formal lessons. He had an older sister who also played the piano. After graduating from Kanagawa University with a degree in English, Uematsu played the keyboard in several amateur bands and composed music for television commercials. While working at a music rental shop in Tokyo, a Square employee asked if he would be interested in creating music for some of their projects. Although he agreed, he considered it a side job and did not expect it to become his main career. He believed it would help him earn extra money while keeping his part-time job.
Uematsu joined Square in 1986, with his first work being a few tracks for Cruise Chaser Blassty. He met game designer Hironobu Sakaguchi shortly after, who asked him to create music for some of his games. Uematsu agreed, and for the next year, he composed music for several games that did not become widely popular, such as King's Knight, 3-D WorldRunner, and Rad Racer. In 1987, Uematsu and Sakaguchi collaborated on Final Fantasy, which was originally meant to be Sakaguchi’s last project for Square. The success of Final Fantasy helped Uematsu’s career in video game music, and he later composed music for over 30 titles, including many games in the Final Fantasy series. He also scored the first game in the SaGa series, The Final Fantasy Legend, in 1989. For the second game in the series, Final Fantasy Legend II, he was assisted by Kenji Ito. In late 1994, Uematsu was asked to finish the soundtrack for Chrono Trigger after Yasunori Mitsuda developed peptic ulcers. In 1996, he co-composed the soundtrack for Front Mission: Gun Hazard and created the entire score for Dynami Tracer. He also composed music for three games in the Hanjuku Hero series.
Outside of video games, Uematsu composed the main theme for the 2000 animated film Ah! My Goddess: The Movie and co-composed the 2001 anime Final Fantasy: Unlimited with Shirō Hamaguchi. He also inspired the Ten Plants concept albums and released a solo album in 1994 titled Phantasmagoria. Feeling increasingly dissatisfied with his work, Uematsu asked composers Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano to help with the score for Final Fantasy X in 2001. This was the first time he did not compose an entire main-series Final Fantasy soundtrack. For Final Fantasy XI in 2002, he worked with Naoshi Mizuta, who composed most of the soundtrack, and Kumi Tanioka; Uematsu composed only 11 tracks. In 2002, Square colleagues Kenichiro Fukui and Tsuyoshi Sekito invited Uematsu to join them in forming a rock band that reinterpreted his music. He initially declined due to work commitments but later agreed to perform with them and eventually joined the band. Another Square employee, Mr. Matsushita, named the band The Black Mages. In 2003, Keiji Kawamori, Arata Hanyuda, and Michio Okamiya also joined the band. The Black Mages released three studio albums and performed at several concerts.
Uematsu left Square Enix in 2004 and formed his own production company, Smile Please. He later founded the music production company and record label Dog Ear Records in 2006. He stated that the move of Square Enix’s office from Meguro to Shinjuku, Tokyo, made him uncomfortable. He also mentioned that he wanted to take more control of his life as he grew older. Despite leaving Square Enix, he continued to compose music as a freelancer for the company. In 2005, Uematsu and members of The Black Mages created the score for the CGI film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. He composed only the main theme for Final Fantasy XII (2006), though he was initially offered the full score. Hitoshi Sakimoto was later assigned as the main composer. Uematsu was also initially chosen to create the theme song for Final Fantasy XIII (2010), but he handed the task to Hamauzu after being assigned to compose the entire score for Final Fantasy XIV.
Uematsu also worked with Hironobu Sakaguchi’s development studio, Mistwalker, and composed music for Blue Dragon (2006), Lost Odyssey (2007), Away: Shuffle Dungeon (2008), The Last Story (2011), and Terra Battle (2014). He also wrote music for the canceled game Cry On. He composed the main theme for Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008 and created the full score for the 2009 anime Guin Saga, marking his first full score for an animated series. Uematsu contributed music and story to e-books, such as "Blik-0 1946".
Uematsu appeared five times in the top 20 of the annual Classic FM Hall of Fame. In 2012, "Aerith’s Theme," written by Uematsu for Final Fantasy VII, was voted to the number 16 position in the Classic FM (UK) "Hall of Fame" top 300 chart. This was the first time a video game piece appeared in the chart. In 2013, music from the Final Fantasy series reached the third position on the Hall of Fame. Uematsu and his Final Fantasy music appeared at number seven in 2014, number nine in 2015, and number 17 in 2016.
In September 2018, Uematsu announced a hiatus to recover from work-related fatigue that led to hospitalization. He composed the main theme for Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), titled "Hollow." Sakaguchi suggested that Uematsu’s work on Fantasian (2021) might be his last major game score due to health concerns. In October 2024, Uematsu announced through his Twitter account that Fantasian would be his final project as a video
Concerts
Uematsu's music from the Final Fantasy video games has been played in many concerts. Concerts featuring Final Fantasy music have taken place in different countries. The first time Final Fantasy music was performed live outside Japan was at the 2003 Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany. Other concerts with Final Fantasy music happened in 2004, 2006, and 2007. In 2004, the piece "Those Who Fight" from Final Fantasy VII was performed for the first time. A Japanese pianist named Seiji Honda played the music with an orchestra. In 2004, another new performance was "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy VI, played by an orchestra, choir, and pipe organ. In 2007, "Distant Worlds" from Final Fantasy XI was performed by a Japanese opera singer named Izumi Masuda.
In Japan, concerts like the Tour de Japon series were held. The first concert in the United States, called Dear Friends – Music from Final Fantasy, happened on May 10, 2004, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and Los Angeles Master Chorale performed the music. The concert was led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya, who is the director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Because the concert was well-received, more concerts were held in North America. A follow-up concert called More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy took place on May 16, 2005, in Los Angeles. Arnie Roth conducted this concert.
In 2006, the concert Voices – Music from Final Fantasy was held on February 18 at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center. This concert focused on songs from the Final Fantasy series and was conducted by Arnie Roth. Guests included Emiko Shiratori, Rikki, Izumi Masuda, and Angela Aki. Uematsu and other composers attended the world premiere of Play! A Video Game Symphony in Chicago in May 2006. Uematsu wrote the opening fanfare for this concert.
Musical style and influences
The music that Uematsu composes is very varied. It includes grand classical music pieces, heavy metal, new-age music, and fast-paced techno-electronica. For example, in the game Lost Odyssey, the soundtrack includes both classical orchestral music and modern jazz and techno songs. Uematsu said he is a fan of Celtic and Irish music, and some of his work includes sounds from these styles. His music for the Final Fantasy series changes a lot. Some pieces are happy and lively, others are dark and angry, and some are sad and thoughtful. In Final Fantasy VIII, the music is dark and serious, while in Final Fantasy IX, the music is more cheerful. Uematsu’s Final Fantasy music is known for showing the emotions of scenes clearly. One example is "Aerith's Theme" from Final Fantasy VII. In an interview with the Nichi Bei Times, Uematsu said, "I don’t really think about composing music for Japan or the world, but I believe some of my sadder pieces have a clearly Japanese feel." He was named one of the "Innovators" in Time magazine’s "Time 100: The Next Wave — Music" feature. He is also called the "John Williams of the video game world" and is credited with helping people appreciate video game music more.
Many of Uematsu’s musical influences come from the United Kingdom and the United States. He said Elton John is his biggest musical influence, and he wanted to be like him. Other important influences include the Beatles, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Simon & Garfunkel, and progressive rock bands. In classical music, he admires Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Uematsu mentioned that 1970s bands like Pink Floyd and King Crimson influenced his Final Fantasy music. The lyrics for "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII are based on medieval poetry from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, including songs like "Estuans Interius," "O Fortuna," "Veni, Veni, Venias," and "Ave Formosissima." Uematsu has had a major impact on video game music and other areas beyond games. For example, "Liberi Fatali" from Final Fantasy VIII was played during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens during a women’s synchronized swimming event. From the same game, "Eyes on Me," which features Chinese pop singer Faye Wong, sold 400,000 copies and won "Song of the Year (International)" at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in 2000. Uematsu said he finds more inspiration from walking his dog than from listening to other music.
Personal life
Uematsu lives in Tokyo with his wife, Reiko, who he met in college. The couple owns a summer cabin in Yamanakako, Yamanashi. When he has free time, he enjoys watching professional wrestling, drinking beer, and riding a bicycle. Uematsu has shared that he wanted to be a professional wrestler when he was younger, calling it his dream job. He became a fan of the Chicago Bears after meeting Mike Ditka.